development of a two-fluid magnetohydrodynamics model for non-equilibrium anisotropic plasma flows

Paper number

IAC-09.A2.2.9

Author

Mr. Ken Miura, Canada

Coauthor

Prof. Clinton Groth, University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Canada

Year

2009

Abstract

A multi-species magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model based on an extended fluid dynamics 
description for each plasma species is proposed for the prediction of the transport
of fully ionized non-equilibrium anisotropic plasmas.  In particular,
a two-fluid (ions and electrons) plasma model is described that makes use of a 
10-moment or Gaussian anisotropic moment closure to model ion and electron species 
transport.  The ion and electron moment equations are fully coupled to the 
complete set of Maxwell's equations which govern electromagnetic wave propagation 
within the plasma and a relaxation time approximation is used to model non-equilibrium
Coulomb collisional processes between the ions and electrons.  Unlike conventional 
MHD models, the proposed two-fluid model is capable of taking into account large 
temperature anisotropies and temperature differences between the electrons and ions,
both of which can occur for low-density, high-temperature plasmas and/or strongly
magnetized plasmas. The governing system of partial differential equations are well suited 
for solution by Godunov-type finite-volume methods provided that the disparate scales 
can be dealt with.  A higher-order finite-volume method is developed here for the 
solution of the one-dimensional form of the two-fluid plasma model and dispersion 
analyses of the discretized equations indicates that a stable and practical scheme
is possible if a fully implicit time marching scheme is adopted. Instabilities that result
from large timesteps are mitigated using temporal limiting.
Numerical results for several one-dimensional unsteady 
plasma flows are described and demonstrate the potential of the proposed multi-species 
plasma model for predicting non-equilibrium anisotropic plasma flows in engineering
applications such as those encountered in electric space propulsion devices.
The future extension of the model and numerical approach to partially ionized plasmas in two and three
space dimensions is also discussed.

Abstract document

IAC-09.A2.2.9.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-09.A2.2.9.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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